Failed Potential

Rating: 4/10 (15 May 2004)

With the exception of the opening 10 minutes, 28 Days Later fails completely. The scenes of the Jim (Cillian Murphy) walking around an abandoned, completely deserted London are creepy and un-nerving. The scenes that hint at mystery and unknown danger are far more intriguing than the rest of the movie. As soon as Jim hooks up with other survivors the scares are lost. Danny Boyle stupidly telegraphs every jump to the point of disqualification. When the survivors leave London and are 'rescued' by a bunch of thuggish army louts it degenerates into extremely cruddy sub-straight-to-video nonsense. I've never seen a film lose its way so badly as this. What could have been really exciting and scary ends up being too cheap and confused.
There are hardly any 'zombies' in this movie. Any action or thrills are over within seconds and the complete lack of logical thinking (even within the morally bankrupt army) becomes annoying.
It did appreciate the raw-looking photography, it gave the movie a realistic edge but it's soon ruined as the plot meanders and doesn't know what to do. Cillian Murphy was quite good as the hero but the woman playing Selena was too brutish and hostile to be sympathetic. I did like Brendan Gleeson's character but he wasn't in it long enough.
Mainly, 28 Days Later suffers badly from minimal plotting, awkward characters, a distinct lack of scares and a corny ending that's out of sync with everything that preceded it. Danny Boyle should NOT attempt horror again.
The DVD is in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen with Dolby 5.1 sound. Extras include a commentary, documentary and deleted scenes. The cut scenes (and alternate ending) are worthless and not interesting.
For a superior and more exciting zombie movie wait for the new Dawn of the Dead to hit DVD. In the meantime, rent this one.